Pune Water Crisis Deepens as Reservoir Storage Falls to 14%

Mumbai: The Pune region is staring at a possible water crisis as the 'live' storage in reservoirs stood at 14.30 per cent of total capacity on Thursday, significantly less than the 31.16 per cent recorded on the same date last year, according to official data. With the onset of the monsoon delayed, water availability is low compared to the last year in several parts of the state, the Maharashtra Water Resources Department's daily update on water availability showed.

Across all 3,028 dams, weirs, and reservoirs in the state, the total 'live' or usable storage stood at 24.03 per cent on Thursday, compared to the 32.38 per cent recorded on June 18, 2025.

Every dam has some water stock, considered as dead stock, which is generally not used for any purpose. The water accumulated above the dead stock is considered as live storage.

A senior official of the Water Resources Department, however, said the storage figures could be slightly misleading as in 2025, the south-west monsoon had arrived in Maharashtra by May 28, earlier than usual, and coastal, western Maharashtra and some parts of Central Maharashtra had received heavy rains by mid June.

Currently, the Pune region holds 77.02 TMC (Thousand Million Cubic Metres) of live water storage. The Nashik region has 52.43 TMC of useful water, which translates to 24.93 per cent of total capacity, down from 31.70 per cent last year.

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar holds 66.86 TMC of live stock, 25.93 per cent of total capacity compared to 30.68 per cent last year. The coastal Konkan region has 37.96 TMC of live water stock, 29.01 per cent of total storage compared to the last year's 36.18 per cent.

The situation is better in eastern Maharashtra. The Nagpur region holds 60.51 TMC of live water storage, 36.31 per cent of total capacity, compared to the 32.25 per cent recorded last year. The Amravati region holds 52.04 TMC of useful water, 37.53 per cent of total capacity, slightly less than the last year's 37.91 per cent.

The total live storage across the state stands at 346.82 TMC.